A New Life
by writergurl56
Summary: Muirfield has finally been taken down. After 11 years Vincent can finally get his life back and move forward with Catherine. Vincent takes Catherine out on their first date and realizes what he must do next. My take on what would happen after Vincent can come out of hiding.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This is a story that popped into my head. In this story Muirfield has been taken down. I would say it occurs about a year after the season finale. No one knows about Vincent's beastly side. All they know is that an organization was hunting him down, so he had to fake his death. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**

A New Life

Vincent was finally able to breathe. Muirfield had been taken down, and he could get his life back after 11 years. Vincent could now live his life with Catherine, and not worry about looking over his shoulder. For the first time ever, Vincent was finally going to get to take his girl out on a date.

"So where do you want to go?" Vincent was laying on his stomach on Catherine's bed watching as she finished getting ready. Catherine smiled at Vincent in the mirror, and turned around.

"You have not been out to a restaurant in over a decade. You are picking, not me."

"Catherine, I just want to take you out."

"You can still take me out, but I'm not choosing, so you better start thinking." Catherine leaned down, and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before she turned, and went to get shoes out of her closet. Vincent sighed, and spun over onto his back. As he was staring at the ceiling he thought about all the places he used to go to when he was in college. He definitely did not want to go anywhere where he had memories with Alex. Then, a light bulb went off in his head. Catherine then came walking out of the bathroom with her hands on her hips.

"So where are we going?"

How about Carmine's? Their food is amazing." Catherine just smiled at him.

"Carmine's it is. Let's go."

~:~

Vincent sat across from Catherine at the restaurant, and felt a little anxious. He hadn't been so exposed in a very long time.

"Vincent, hey are you alright?" Catherine grabbed his hands from across the table, and tried to meet his eyes.

"I'm alright, it's just there are a lot of people here, and well I just feel exposed."

"It's alright to be exposed. They aren't looking for you anymore. We got them. You are free."

"Yeah, you are right. I guess it is just going to take some time to get used to." Vincent smiled at Catherine, and went back to eating his dinner.

"So you said you liked it here. Did you come here often?" Vincent smiled to himself when he thought about all the times he would come here.

"Yeah. This was our place, my brothers and I. We used to come here all the time. It was our favorite place to go." Vincent looked down at his chicken dish, and smiled as he thought about all the times they had come here together. Sometimes he still could not believe that they were gone.

"Oh ok. Sounds like you were really close with your brothers."

"Will and Matt were my best friends. We did everything together. Every special occasion we had, this is where we would come. This was actually the last place we came together."

Catherine watched Vincent's face as he recounted tales with his brothers. She realized it was time to change the subject. She wanted tonight to be a happy night, not one that would upset him.

"It sounds like this place has a lot of good memories for you. Thank you for bringing me here." Vincent was about to say something when a woman came over to their table.

"Oh my goodness! You're him! You're the man from the news." Vincent began to get nervous, so Catherine took over.

"Yup, that's him alright."

"Sir, it is an honor to meet you. I'm so sorry that those people took those years away from you. I just wanted to come over to say thank you for everything that you sacrificed for this country." The woman left soon after that, but Catherine saw the look in Vincent's eyes. He was humbled. Catherine was glad that people were finally able to realize the sacrifices Vincent had taken.

"Ready to go?" Catherine stood up and held out her hand as a way of breaking him out of his reverie.

"Uh yeah, guess it's time to head out.

On the way home they stopped, and got some ice cream, and took their time walking through the streets of New York. They didn't have to say anything to each other, they could just walk hand in hand enjoying being together. While Catherine was just enjoying the time with her boyfriend, frenzy was going on inside Vincent's head. Going to Carmine's brought back so many memories from his life. It all was flashing in his head like a movies reel. Images of him playing catch with his dad, baking cookies with his mom, having food fights with his brothers, even playing video games with JT. Everything was just passing through his head and he just couldn't stop them. It was as if he had been blocking out his memories for the last 11 years and suddenly they came through like a dam had broken. Vincent was glad to remember the happy memories, but then the bad ones started coming through. First, finding out the twin towers had been hit, then his brothers' funeral. He just couldn't take those memories. They were too difficult to remember.

"Vincent…Vincent!" He hadn't realized that he and Catherine were sitting on a bench until she started yelling his name. She put a hand to his cheek, and began wiping his tears away.

"Hey, are you alright?" Vincent finally looked at Catherine. and let the rest of his tears rush out.

"I'm sorry. I guess being there, it brought back all of these memories that I hadn't thought about in 11 years." Vincent brought his hand up, and wiped away the rest of his tears.

"Don't be sorry. You just had me a little worried. You weren't responding to me at all, and then you started crying." Catherine took his right hand in hers and laced them together.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Vincent thought about what he wanted to say. He really didn't want to talk about his memories, but he did know what he wanted to do.

"No, I don't want to talk about it, but I know what I want to do next. Catherine, will you help me find my parents?" Catherine looked up at him, and smiled the biggest smile she could. Ever since Muirfield had been taken down, she had been waiting for him to ask her that very question.

"Of course I will help you." Vincent smiled so brightly that she was sure it had brightened up the dark streets Together they hurried back to Catherine's apartment, so they could begin their search. He knew it was not going to be easy, but he hoped in the near future he would have some of his family back.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Thanks to those who read, and reviewed to the first chapter! I really appreciate it when you review, it lets me know if the story is completely horrible or not. In this story, JT and Tess are dating; They are not very far in their relationship though. As far as Alex, I am just assuming that once Muirfield was taken down, she went back to her life. Thanks for reading! Please review!

A New Life

Chapter 2

It had been two days since Vincent had decided he wanted to find his parents, two long and disappointing days. It turns out 6 months after Vincent had "died" his parents sold their house, and traveled around the country. Over the years JT had tried to keep tabs on them, but with no permanent address it turned out to be a little difficult. Catherine decided it was time to use the police databases.

"Well, aren't you here early?" Catherine just about jumped out of her skin when Tess disrupted the silence.

"Geez Tess. Make some noise or something."

"Sorry, but shouldn't you be used to that from Vincent?" Tess was trying to hide her laughter, but it wasn't working out so well.

"Vincent hasn't snuck up on me like that in over a year! What are you doing here? Wasn't last night your big date night with JT?"

"I came in to finish some paper work." Catherine stopped what she was doing and looked up at Tess.

"Oh my God. You are wearing your back up clothes. Please tell me you did not sneak out on him!"

"Hey. Don't go yelling at me! I just didn't want to deal with the awkward morning after."

"Tess. This is just not some guy. This is JT. He's always awkward. Look I'm not going to get into the middle here, but you promised me you would not hurt him." Tess looked at Catherine with a sigh. She knew Catherine was right.

"I know. I will call him, I swear. So what are you working on?"

"Vincent and I are having a hard time finding his parents. They have been traveling the world for the past ten years; I guess it was their way of coping. I've been searching everywhere. I mean you would think they would need to come back sometime."

"Well I know you don't want to go down this route, but maybe you should ask the last person they would have contacted." Catherine looked at Tess with a grimace. She was right.

"Guess it's time to call the ex."

~:~

That night Catherine picked up Vincent's favorite Chinese food. She figured it would be the best way to break the news that she needed to ask Alex for help.

"Vincent? JT? Anyone home?"

"We're in here Catherine." Vincent yelled from the living room. When Catherine walked in Vincent was reading the paper, and JT was sulking on the couch with a beer.

"Hey, I brought dinner." Catherine set the food down on the counter, and gave Vincent a kiss before looking over towards JT.

"What's with him?"

"Tess left early this morning, and won't answer his phone calls." Catherine just shook her head. She promised she wouldn't do this to him.

"JT, I'm sure she will call. You know how Tess is." JT looked up at her, and he had these sad puppy dog eyes.

"Or maybe she has decided that this wasn't going to work out."

"JT, trust me she will call." Catherine went back over to Vincent who was putting the Chinese food onto a plate.

"You know you don't have to baby him. If he wants answers, then he SHOULD CALL HER." Vincent said, and got louder at the end to get JT's attention." JT just waved Vincent off as he walked out of the room.

"So, I know I shouldn't ask, but did you find anything new today?" Vincent's tone was so hopeful, and Catherine hated to have to tell him there was nothing new.

"No. I'm sorry. I didn't find anything, but I did think up a way that we might be able to find them. We could call the person who was last in contact with them." The light bulb went off in Vincent's head almost immediately.

"Alex? Really? Is that our only option?"

"Vincent, I know you don't want to bring her back into our lives, but I think she is our only chance at finding your parents. She might know where they are." Vincent was leaning against the counter on his forearms. Looking up at Catherine from under his lashes, he just nodded his head.

"Alright, well I will call her tonight then..unless you want to do it?"

"No, you can call if that's ok." Catherine popped a Chinese noodle in her mouth and kissed him on the cheek.

"I will go call now. The sooner we know the better." Catherine took her phone, and went up to Vincent's room to make the call. She had kept Alex's number in case of emergencies. Catherine dialed the number, and waited as it rang. On the fourth ring, she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Alex, hi, it's Catherine Chandler."

"Catherine? Hi, I never expected to hear from you again. Everything ok with Vince? I saw him on TV."

"Yeah, he's fine. I actually had a question for you about Vincent's parents. Have you heard from them?

"They send me a postcard every couple months or so. They've been traveling the world for the last ten years."

"Do you know where they are now? Vincent wants to reconnect with them."

"Actually, they just moved back to the states. I could give you their number if you want" Catherine did a little happy dance. She might have actually found them.

"That would be great, Alex, thanks so much."

"Catherine, I have to warn you. They probably have not heard that Vincent is alive. They don't watch TV, or listen to the radio or anything."

"Alright, Thanks, I will make sure to talk to them first."

"No problem. I'm happy things were able to work out for him. Good Bye."

"Thanks so much Alex. Bye."

Catherine hung up the phone, and ran down the stairs. Vincent was waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a huge smile on his face.

"I found them!" Vincent wrapped his arms around Catherine, and spun her in a circle.

"I can't believe this. Thank you for finding them. I love you so much." He then leaned down, and captured her lips in an incredibly passionate kiss. After they broke apart, Catherine just smiled at him.

"Your welcome babe. I love you too." Then they both went to sit on the couch to watch a movie before going to bed." Halfway through the movie, Vincent started laughing for no reason.

"Vincent? What's so funny?"

"Tess just called JT. Somehow he ended up apologizing to her." Catherine laughed and slapped him on the arm.

"Vincent Keller! No eavesdropping!" Vincent just smiled, and kissed Catherine on the head.

"My bad." Catherine leaned her head back on Vincent's chest. She was ecstatic that he was so happy. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow he will have his parents back in his life.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Thank you to everyone who favorited and followed my story! I only got two reviews for the last chapter though. Please review, I really appreciate them, and they motivate me to update faster. Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 3

The next day Catherine stood outside of the Keller house. She looked down at herself, and was suddenly nervous. She was here as Detective Catherine Chandler, but she was also meeting her boyfriend's parents. Next to her stood JT; he had offered to come and help explain what exactly had happened.

"What am I going to say? Catherine said nervously.

"Cat, we have gone over this a thousand times. We are going to explain what happened, just not going into too much detail about the beast thing. Don't worry. I believe in you, and I am right here." JT leaned down and quickly squeezed her hand.

"Ok. Let's do this."Catherine said as she reached up to ring the door bell. Catherine, and JT waited at the door for a few minutes before the door opened to reveal Vincent's mother, Caroline. Catherine had to smile; Vincent looked so much like her. They had the same sandy brown hair color, and the exact same eyes. Her eyes were filled with so much sadness and pain that Catherine just wanted to wrap her arms around the woman.

"Mrs. Keller, I'm Catherine Chandler, we spoke on the phone."Catherine was smiling at the woman, but her eyes went straight to JT. Catherine didn't know what to do when they began welling up with tears.

"Jeremiah Timothy. Oh my lord." The woman through her arms around JT and started crying. Catherine just stood there. She could not believe that was what JT stood for. Jeremiah Timothy.

"Come in. Please come in. I'm sorry for my outburst. I just haven't seen Jeremiah in such a long time."

"Mrs. K, please call me JT. You know how much I hate my name."

"Nonsense, Jeremiah. Your name is beautiful." Before walking in the door JT put his arm out to stop Catherine.

"You tell Tess what my name is, and I will dig up every embarrassing event that happened in your life, and tell Vincent." Catherine just laughed at his antics.

"Ok, Jeremiah. I won't tell a soul." Catherine laughed and moved his arm, so that she could get by. As they walked into the house, they noticed that there were boxes everywhere.

"Did you and Mr. Keller just move back?" JT asked as he looked around the living room. Caroline looked around nervously, and started to tear up again.

"My husband passed away a few weeks ago. It was very sudden, a heart attack." Catherine fell back into a chair with a gasp. This was going to kill Vincent.

"Mrs. Keller, I am so sorry. We had no idea."

"There was no way you could have known, dear. I haven't really told anyone yet. After attending all our children's funerals we decided we were not going to have them for ourselves. I called ourt remaining relatives, and had a very personal memorial myself." Catherine had tears in her eyes, and she could hear JT sniffling next to her.

"We are so very sorry for your loss."

"Thank you Catherine. Now, what was it that you had to talk to me about?" Catherine suddenly had no idea what to say. She was completely blindsided by the fact that Vincent's father was gone. Catherine took a deep breath, and gathered her thoughts. She was here for Vincent, not herself.

"I'm here about your son, Vincent."

"Vincent? What could you possibly have to talk to me about? He's been dead for 11 years."

"Mrs. Keller, This may be hard to hear, but Vincent is alive."

"Who do you think you are? Is this a trick? A prank? You need to leave right now!" Caroline got extremely angry as soon as the words left Catherine's lips.

"Mrs. K, wait please. We don't mean to upset you. Please, let her finish." After Caroline's outburst; Catherine was even more nervous.

"Vincent was involved in a special forces group in the army. He volunteered to do something that he believed would truly help this country." Catherine started out slow and saw that Caroline was sitting very still listening to what she had to say.

"These people took advantage of Vincent's vulnerable state. They told him he would be a part of something meaningful. Unfortunately, they never told him what could go wrong. In order to protect his family and himself, Vincent had to fake his death." Catherine waited to see the reaction that Caroline would have. She knew how crazy it sounded. If it were her, she wouldn't believe a word of it.

"I'm a little confused. Are you saying that he is alive? That he has been alive all this time?" Catherine could tell that Caroline was getting upset, but she really had no idea about how to calm her down.

"I know this sounds crazy. You have to understand that Vincent only did this to protect the people he loves." Catherine could tell she was not getting through to her, so she pulled out her phone to show the only picture she had of Vincent.

"Mrs. Keller, look, this is a picture of Vincent and I that I took about a week ago." Caroline took the phone out of Catherine's hand and stared at the photo. After a few minutes, she brought her hand to her mouth, and began sobbing.

"This is him. This is my boy, my baby." Catherine looked over at JT, and smiled.

"Where is he? Can I see him?"

"We wanted to explain everything to you before he came with us. I promise I will bring him back with me though." Caroline's face then got very serious.

"Tonight. You must bring him back tonight. I have to see him."

"Okay. I will bring him back tonight." JT, Catherine, and Caroline said their good byes and went back to get Vincent. Catherine couldn't wait to reunite mother and son, but first she had to break the news that his father was gone.

~:~

Catherine decided she would go back to her apartment before going to see Vincent. It was going to be so hard to break the news to him. She had hoped he would be at home, but as soon as she opened the door, she knew he was on her fire escape.

"Hey. You do know you can use the door now." Vincent just smiled up at her, and wrung his hands together. Catherine sighed, he was nervous.

"So, uh how did it go?" Catherine took a deep breath, and jumped right into it.

"Your mom is so happy Vincent. She wants me to bring you back tonight."

"What about my dad?" Catherine could feel the tears prick her eyes; she did everything she could to keep them at bay.

"I have some bad news." As soon as the words came out of her mouth, he knew.

"Just tell me Catherine, just tell me." His voice cracked at the end of the sentence, and she almost lost it right there.

"Vincent, your dad died of a heart attack a few weeks ago. I'm so sorry." Vincent put his head in his hands, and his shoulders began to shake. Catherine really didn't know what to do. She just put her arm around his shoulder, and rubbed her hand on his back.

"I'm so sorry." Catherine kept whispering the same thing over and over again. After a few minutes, Vincent wrapped his arms around Catherine and buried his face in her shoulder.

"My dad is gone Catherine." Vincent's voice was so broken, and Catherine could feel tears falling down her own face. She held him as tight as she could, and brushed her fingers through his hair. He had now lost his two brothers and his father; she just could not imagine.

After about an hour Vincent slowly started to calm down.

"Okay, I'm ready to go see my mom." Catherine stood up, and wrapped her arms around Vincent.

"Are you sure? We can wait, I'm sure she will understand." Vincent shook his head, and pulled her towards the front door.

"No, I need to see her. She has gone through enough; she doesn't need to go through this alone too.

"Alright, then let's go see your mom then." Catherine gave Vincent a small smile and led him out the door.

**A/N Okay I wanted to keep going, but I figured this was a good place to stop. Next chapter might not be up until next week. Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Here is chapter 4. It's not my best work, but at least its there. I'm so sorry for the long wait. Life got in the way and I had horrible writers block. I hope you like the chapter! Please review! Let me know if you want me to continue the story further. I will probably only have one more chapter after this one unless I am convinced otherwise. Thanks!**

Chapter 4

The drive to Caroline's house was very quiet. Neither Catherine nor Vincent was saying anything at all. Vincent stared out the side window as Catherine drove. As they were stopped at a red light, Catherine was finally able to get a good look at Vincent. His eyes were still puffy from crying, but there was something different about him. That's when she realized it. He was clean shaven, and he had gotten a haircut. Catherine leaned over, and ran her hand through his hair.

"I like the haircut. Looks really great." Vincent looked up and gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, well my mom always liked it when we were 'neatly groomed,' as she used to call it."

"It's nice that you did that for your mom. She's going to be so happy to see you." Vincent just gave a small smile, and went back to staring out of the window. Catherine sighed and focused her attention back to driving. Maybe she should have took JT's advice, and told him together.

Once they arrived at Caroline's house, Catherine and Vincent just sat there for a few minutes. Catherine was the first to speak up.

"You ready for this?" Vincent looked up at Catherine with worry in his eyes. He reached over and grabbed Catherine's hand before he began to speak.

"I'm ready to see my mom, but I'm worried about what she is going to say. What if she doesn't accept me, or asks questions I can't answer.

"Look, the hard part is over. JT, and went over a lot with her. She doesn't need to know any of the beastly details. Don't worry, JT and I will be with you the entire time." Vincent smiled, and brought their entwined hands to his lips.

"Thank you. I guess it's time to go inside." Hand in hand they walked up to the front door. Catherine knocked twice, and opened the door. Inside, JT and Caroline were waiting in the living room. Caroline's back was facing them as they made their way into the house. Catherine made eye contact with JT before Vincent began to speak. Vincent quickly looked to Catherine, and took a deep breath.

"Mom?" Caroline jumped up, and spun around faster than she has in years. She brought her hand up to her mouth and made her way to her son. Vincent stayed in his place not wanting to scare his mother.

"Vincent? Is it really you?" Caroline was right in front of her son now, tears flowing freely down her face.

"It's really me, mom. I'm home." As soon as the words were out of Vincent's mouth Caroline had wrapped her arms around her son, and they were both now openly sobbing. Caroline had finally pulled back to look at her son.

"Let me look at you. This scar. What did those people do to you?" Vincent glanced at Catherine, and tried to calm his mom down.

"Mom, I got this scar by protecting someone who helped me a lot in the army." This seemed to calm Caroline down a little bit. By this point Caroline and Vincent had moved to the couch, JT and Catherine stood in the back of the room to give them some privacy.

"Vincent, what happened? Your friend said that you were a part of the government agency ten years ago. Where have you been for ten years?"

"I faked my death to protect everyone in my life. The people from that organization would have killed anyone just to get to me. I couldn't bear the thought of you, or dad being punished because of me. I stayed away to keep you safe." Caroline stood up and began to pace. Catherine started to inch a little closer towards the duo, something told her things were about to get ugly.

"I was okay when JT and Catherine came over and told me everything, but now having you here in front of me…I am angry! You should have come home! Do you know what it is like to bury all of your children! You could have saved me that pain Vincent!"

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to protect you. Those people were lethal. They would have killed you. I didn't want you and dad to get hurt." Vincent started to wring his hands again. Catherine and JT exchanged glances, but didn't know exactly what to do. They had no idea that Caroline would have this reaction.

"You say all these things and yet your roommate is standing right over there." Everyone looked over at JT, and he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Vincent was done with this nonsense. He walked over to his mother, and grabbed her hands.

"Mom, I'm sorry for the past and everything that has happened in our lives. I don't want to fight with you. Can we just put the past behind us and move on. Caroline had tears falling down her face, but she slowly nodded her head. She wrapped her arms back around Vincent, and stayed like that for a long time.

Catherine watched on as mother, and son cried together. They were not only happy to be back in each other's lives, but were grieving for the time they had lost. Catherine looked down, and wiped away a tear. Since Muirfield had been taken down it was obvious that something was missing from Vincent's life. Hopefully, this was the first step to getting his happiness back. Catherine smiled and pulled JT into the next room. They didn't need an audience as they reconnected.

**A/N Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review, and let me know if I should continue!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Thank you to all of those who left reviews to my last chapter. They motivated me to want to continue this story further! This is a long one! Don't forget to leave a review! They make my day! If you are on twitter follow me! AlexiStorti**

Chapter 5

Over the next two weeks, Vincent spent almost all of his free time with his mother. Catherine would come home every night hoping that he would be there to surprise her. Unfortunately, every night she was faced with the same empty apartment. Usually she got a text once a day saying that he was spending time with his mom, and that she didn't like phones out. If she wasn't going to see him that night he would always make sure to let her know. _'Staying at mom's. Love you.'_ Catherine stared down at the new text she had gotten. Anger began to bubble up inside her, and she had to take several deep breaths to contain it. She shouldn't be getting angry. If it was the other way around, she would also be spending all of her time with her mother. Catherine's head popped up as someone knocked on her bedroom door.

"Movie night?" Catherine stared up at Heather, and smiled. Ever since Vincent had come out of hiding she had been oddly supportive of the whole thing.

"Yeah, a movie night sounds great. Why don't we call Tess too? We can grill her about her new boyfriend."

"Awesome! You call Tess, I will call for a pizza." Heather left the room, and Catherine slowly got up from the bed. She would rather be spending the night with Vincent, but this would have to do. After calling Tess, Catherine went out into the living room to sit with Heather.

"So, I was thinking we could watch The Proposal, and Safe Haven. One Funny, One drama, and they both have hot guys we can ogle at." I had to laugh at Heather's enthusiasm over a movie night. Behind us, there was a knock at the door.

"The party has arrived, and I grabbed the pizza from the guy downstairs." Tess walked in the door carrying a case of beer, and the pizza.

"Thanks Tess. I will pay you back on Monday." Tess eyed Catherine wearily, but she ignored it. Heather turned on The Proposal, and they all sat down with some pizza.

"So, no Vincent still?" Catherine stared down at her pizza like it was the most interesting thing on the planet as she answered.

"No, he's at his mom's house again."

"What does that make it? Eight days since you've seen him?"

"He hasn't seen his mom in ten years. If I had the chance to see my mom again, I would be doing the same exact thing. I'm not going to call him a million times just because I miss him a little."

"Catherine, you know I'm not saying that he shouldn't be spending time with his mom, but he also shouldn't be completely ignoring you." Catherine knew Tess was right, but her tone told her that she knew something.

"Spit it out, Tess. What aren't you saying?" Tess stared at the movie for the first time since it started. Suddenly, Ryan Reynolds getting yelled at by Sandra Bullock had just become really interesting.

"Look, I don't want to get in the middle, but JT said that he's been home a few times."

"Well, he lives there Tess. Of course he is going to be stopping by there more than here."

"Yeah, you're right." Catherine knew that Tess had more to say, but she was letting it go. Catherine looked up, and caught Heather's eye. It was a little odd that she was being so quiet. Heather just smiled at her, and looked over at Tess.

"Speaking of JT, how is that going for you?" Catherine smiled back at her sister. At least she understood that she didn't want to be judged about Vincent right now.

"Things with JT are going surprisingly well. I mean I really didn't think they would go this far, but he really gets me. It's kind of refreshing." Catherine had to smile at the blush running across Tess' face. For a minute she thought about being evil and blabbing JT real name, but she decided she would keep his secret…for now.

"I'm really happy things are going so well for you guys. JT is one of the good ones." After that the girls paid more attention to the movies than to each other. Catherine really wasn't watching the movies though. She was thinking about Vincent. Her mind flashed back to two weeks ago after the first night with his mom.

_Catherine, Vincent, and Jt had decided to go back to the guy's place after leaving Caroline's house. As soon as the door to Vincent's room had closed he had wrapped Catherine in his arms, and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss. After they pulled back Catherine had to smile at how free Vincent looked._

_ "Thank you for everything you did to set tonight up. I can't tell you how amazing it felt to be back in my mother's arms again." Catherine wrapped her arms around his shoulder, and kissed him again, this time a little longer than the first._

_ "You don't have to thank me Vincent. I did it because I want you to be happy again." Vincent fell backwards onto the bed and Catherine walked a few steps to stand between his legs._

_ "You don't think I'm happy? Catherine, you make me the happiest man in the world."_

_ "I'm glad that I make you happy. It means I'm doing my job right, but I don't think you are completely happy." _

_ "I feel happy." Catherine leaned down cupping his cheek with her hand._

_ "Well, maybe you have forgotten what it feels like to be completely happy."_

Catherine was pulled out of her reverie by Tess, and Heather laughing. After she and Vincent had talked that night about his happiness she had only seen him a few times. Sighing, she tried to focus back on the movie. Vincent was spending time with his mom and that was the end of it.

~:~

Vincent needed a break from his mother, so he decided to go for a short walk. He loved getting to know his mom again. Every day since they had gotten back in touch had been filled with stories, pictures, and delicious food. His mother was a fantastic cook and tried to make all of his favorites. Vincent was so happy, but he hated that he was ignoring Catherine. His mom had taken his phone saying that it would just distract him. That should have been the first clue. Then his mom started bringing up Alex more and more. Now, she was basically keeping him captive.

"Vincent!" Vincent just looked down and shook his head before he spun around to face his mom.

"Hey mom, I was just getting some fresh air." Vincent gave her a smile, but apparently it came off as fake.

"I thought you were happy to be here, but you aren't…are you?" Vincent looked around, and rubbed the back of his neck. He thought he had been hiding it well enough. He decided it was time to tell the truth about him and Catherine.

"Mom, I am happy here but there's something I need to tell you. Let's go inside to talk." Caroline gave him an odd look, but followed him into the house.

"Vincent, I don't think I can take many more surprises. I've already had the biggest one of my life."

"It's about Catherine. She isn't who you think she is." Vincent gave Caroline a minute before he continued. He knew his mother was not going to take this news well.

"Catherine isn't my friend. She is my girlfriend and she's been my saving grace these last eleven years." Caroline stared at Vincent with her mouth agape.

"How can she be your girlfriend when you have a fiancé?"

"Mom, it's been eleven years. Things are not the same as they were before I entered the army. I will always love Alex, but I can't live without Catherine." Caroline seemed to soften her features after he said this.

"This is wrong, but if you feel so strongly about this woman then I will try. Maybe she should come over for dinner tomorrow." Vincent wrapped his arms around his mom, and kissed her cheek.

"Thanks Mom.

~:~

Catherine lay in her bed staring at the ceiling. No matter what she did, she just could not fall asleep. Suddenly, there was a tap on the window. Catherine got up and walked over to the window to open it.

"Vincent?"

"Miss me?" Catherine just broke into a giant smile, and pulled him into her bedroom.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around. Mom was kind of holding me captive." Vincent and Catherine were now lying in bed, wrapped in each other's arms.

"I finally told her about us. She's not too happy, but she's willing to try." Catherine layed her head on Vincent's chest and breathed in his scent.

"That's all we can really expect from her. I mean I understand where she's coming from."

"I'm so happy you said that. She wants to have you over for dinner tomorrow." Without lifting her head from its position she started nodding. This was exactly where she wanted to be, and no one was going to take that away from her.

"I will make sure to be on my best behavior." Vincent chuckled a little before kissing her on the temple. He then closed his eyes and settled in for the best night's sleep he'd had in almost two weeks.

**A/N Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! They really make me smile when I get them. This story is coming to an end. I probably have about 3 or 4 more chapters left. Am I making the chapters too long? Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 6

Caroline sat at her kitchen table with pictures spread out around her. Her life had not been what she had always planned it would be. By this time in her life she always imagined that she and her husband would be happily retired surrounded by their children, and grandchildren. She never could have imagined in a million years that she would be spending her wonder years alone. Now that Vincent was back in her life; it had given her that little spark of hope back. She knew she was being overbearing, and controlling, but she was so scared she would lose him again. When Catherine told her about Vincent she actually believed that she was involved with Jeremiah Timothy. Vincent was so madly in love with Alex that she could not see him with anyone else. Caroline looked down at Vincent and Alex's engagement photos and sighed. They looked so happy. Why did those people have to ruin his life? Caroline angrily wiped away the tears from her face, and went to check on the dinner. She made sure to make Vincent's favorite dinner: barbeque chicken, baked potatoes, and string beans.

Vincent was always an easy child to please. He was never picky like his brothers were. Throughout his entire childhood he was always the one who she could put in front of a coloring book, and he would be happy for hours. His brothers always needed to be constantly entertained, but not Vincent. He was her good boy; most people said it was because Vincent was the baby of the family. She had another theory though. Caroline thought of Vincent as her little angel and time and time again, that theory was being proven right. Caroline looked at the clock and finished setting the table. Catherine and Vincent would be arriving any minute now. She owed Catherine with bringing Vincent back in her life, so she was really going to give her a chance. Even though she truly believed Alex was the one Vincent was meant to be with.

Catherine and Vincent were on their way to Caroline's house and Catherine was very nervous. She kept checking her clothes, and smoothing down her hair. She knew Caroline wouldn't be out right mean to her, but if she didn't want them to be together then she wasn't exactly going to be nice either.

"Catherine, you look fine. Stop fidgeting. You are making me nervous."

"I can't help it." Vincent looked over at Catherine, and grabbed her hand.

"Hey. It doesn't matter what she says. We are going to stay together no matter what happens tonight, and I'm not going to let her say anything to hurt you." Catherine smiled at Vincent, and leaned her head against the headrest. Where did she find such a good man?

They arrived at the house a few minutes later, getting to the house right on time. Vincent got out of the car and opened the door for Catherine.

"Don't worry. This is just a dinner for my mom to get to know my girlfriend. Normal family dinner."

"Normal family dinner? Do you not remember the last time we had one of them?" Vincent frowned a little, and thought back to the first night that he had officially met Heather.

"Okay, so we don't do well at dinners. Let's change that." Catherine looked at Vincent and noticed that he really did not look nervous at all. Most people would be nervous, but he meant what he said.

"Alright, Vincent. Let's go have dinner." They walked up to the front door knocked once, and opened the door.

"Mom?"

"I'm in the living room Vincent." Catherine and Vincent walked to the living room hand in hand as if to show they were a united front.

"Hi Mom"

"Hello Caroline, It's nice to see you again." As they both said their greetings they sat on the couch that was facing Caroline.

"It's nice to see you also Catherine." For a few minutes they all just sat there awkwardly waiting for the other to speak. Caroline was the first to break the silence.

"Vincent, I had made some mini quiche as appetizers. Why don't you go into the kitchen, and get them for us." Vincent looked at Catherine almost as if to make sure she would be alright, and then got up to get the quiche. He was going to make it a quick trip until he saw the pictures on the table. This was the real reason for his trip to the kitchen. Back in the living room, Caroline took this opportunity to have a conversation with Catherine alone.

"Catherine, now that we have a few moments to ourselves; I needed to talk to you about something."

"Oh…yeah sure."

"Catherine, I owe you for bringing Vincent back into my life. You seem like such a nice girl, and I really want to see you happy."

"I sense a but coming on."

"Catherine, Vincent is in love with Alex. They have been together for their entire lives. He was so happy with her, and something like that doesn't just go away. I can guarantee you that is what he is looking at in the kitchen." Catherine really didn't know how she was supposed to respond to this. She glanced to the kitchen and hoped that Vincent would choose to come out now.

"Caroline, I really don't know what you want me to say. I love Vincent more than anything on this Earth. I would do anything to protect him, and to keep him safe. I would also do whatever it takes to make sure he is happy. That is why I found you." Caroline then leaned over and grabbed her hand.

"Dear, you shouldn't have to work to make him happy." Vincent chose that moment to come walking out of the kitchen, and he was wearing the biggest smile Catherine had seen in a while. Setting down the quiche, he also laid down a stack of pictures.

"Sorry I took so long, I found all of these pictures in the kitchen."

"Oh yeah. Vincent, I forget to tell you. I found all of those pictures of you and Alex; I thought you would want to see them." Vincent then got the most confused look on his face.

"What? No, these pictures are all of dad, Will, and Matt." Catherine had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Caroline really thought he was going to pick up the pictures of Alex. Caroline just sat back and watched as Vincent showed Catherine all of the pictures of his family. Vincent had his arm wrapped around her, and he would point out all of the details in the picture and then would explain what was going on in the background. Caroline didn't want to believe it….but the way he caressed her arm and made sure to look at her after every picture. It took her breath away. She never wanted to believe it, that Vincent could have found someone that was better than Alex. At one point Vincent had a few tears fall across his face. Catherine used her thumb to wipe away his tears, and then kissed him on the temple. Caroline smiled to herself, by just witnessing this little scene right here she knew. Alex Salter may have been Vincent's first love, but Catherine Chandler was his soul mate. She didn't need any other convincing. She did have some apologizing to do though.

"Hey kids. Come on. Food is going to get cold."

~:~

Catherine and Vincent kept giving each other looks throughout dinner. In the blink of an eye Caroline had changed her demeanor completely.

"Catherine, I have to apologize to you. I have been very unfair." Catherine had stopped her fork in mid air and her mouth wide open. What was going on. She honestly had no idea where this was coming from.

"I never gave you a chance. I just assumed that Alex was the one that Vincent is meant to be with. It is obvious that I am very wrong."

"Mom, I'm happy that you are coming around, but what changed?"

"I saw the way you two acted around each other. I was watching you two in the other room. I could see it the moment you two walked in together. Vincent, you were with Alex for a long time. I always thought you were happy, but just seeing the way you look into her eyes, the smile she puts on your face. Vincent, this girl is your soul mate." Vincent looked over at Catherine and smiled. He had known that all along and soon he was going to make it official.

"Catherine, I hope that you can forgive me for the way that I have treated you."

"Of course I can Caroline. You were only trying to protect Vincent. You want him to be happy, just like I do."

"I've never had a girl in the family before. We've always had boys, but I would love to get to know you Catherine." Catherine smiled and grabbed her hand across the table.

"Caroline, I would really love that." Vincent sat back and let the two women in his life talk. His life was starting to get back on track, and he thought that it felt like the right time to ask Catherine that all too important question. Maybe it was time for him, and JT to take a little shopping trip.

**A/N Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Hey Everyone! Sorry for the long wait! I am taking 3 online classes and working full time. It takes up a lot of my time. I promise I will try to update every 1-2 weeks. I hope you like this chapter! Don't forget to review!**

Chapter 7

Two days later, Vincent woke up and stared at the ceiling. Catherine had already left for work, so he had all day to plan on how he was going to propose. He had begun to make a list in his head, and the nerves were starting to eat away at his stomach. For the past three days he had woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. For some reason, there was this voice at the back of his mind telling him that Catherine was going to say no, and leave him. It was this bad feeling, and no matter how confident he was about their relationship he just could not shake it. Vincent was not going to let a bad feeling get him down though. He had started his list, and today he would start running errands. Getting out of bed, he ran his hands through his hair. It was time to go get JT and go shopping.

"JT. We are going shopping." JT looked up at him from his cereal with the most disgusted look in the world.

"Okay, I know things have been changing around here, but we do not go shopping." JT said gesturing between the two of them. He then looked down, and went back to eating his cereal.

"JT, we need to go shopping because I am going to propose to Catherine." JT's head snapped up so fast, he was sure it was going to be sore later. A large smile then spread across JT's face.

"Really? You're finally going to do it?" Vincent had to smile also, it felt good to tell someone.

"Yeah. I'm going to finally do it. Although, I don't think it has been that long. I mean we have only been dating technically for a year.

"Yeah. 'Technically'. You have been in love with Catherine for years, and you know it." JT said using air quotes.

"Okay. Can we stop talking, and go shop?" JT and Vincent both had to laugh at that statement.

"The things we do for women."

~:~

Three hours later, JT and Vincent collapsed into two chairs at a nearby Starbucks.

"Seriously? How did you not find anything yet? It's been three ungodly hours!" Vincent smiled sheepishly at JT.

"I'm sorry man. I just want it to be the perfect ring, and I haven't found it yet."

"We did this 12 years ago when you were going to propose to Alex. You found the ring in like 20 minutes. Why is this different?"

"Really. JT? You have to ask? Alex is not Catherine. I want it to be perfect for Catherine, and it was different with Alex." JT just nodded his head. He understood that Vincent wanted everything to be perfect for Catherine. It was so weird seeing his friend nervous. Vincent was never nervous about this stuff; he was always so sure about himself.

"Alright, Vincent; if you want to find the perfect ring, then let's go find the perfect ring." Vincent smiled and jumped up faster than a kid on Christmas morning. JT had to laugh, the last time they did this it was not meant to be, but this time it would last forever. Two stores down from Starbuck's was a small jewelry store called Enchanted, so they decided to give it a shot. Vincent went in and immediately went over to the ring section. He began to look over the rings until his eye caught the most beautiful ring he had ever seen.

"JT, look at this one!" JT walked over to where Vincent was standing and looking at the ring he was pointing to.

"Vincent, why don't you ask that woman over there to get it out for you? I really can't see it." Vincent rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Four eyes." Vincent said as he rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me? Can I see this ring please?" The saleswoman walked over to them and took out the ring.

"Your girlfriend is very lucky. This ring is incredibly beautiful. This is part of Vera Wang's LOVE collection. This ring has a 1 and ¾ CT diamond and the band is made with 14K white gold." Vincent stared at the ring and he smiled to himself. This was the perfect ring, this was Catherine's ring. It wasn't too big that she would feel self conscious about it and she could still wear it at work.

"It's perfect." JT watched his friend smile. He was so happy that Vincent had found the ring, and he was so happy that they could go home now.

"Wonderful. Let me know what size you need and then we can fill out all the paperwork." As Vincent was filling out the paperwork he decided to freak out JT a little.

"Ya know, once Tess sees Catherine's ring she is going to want one of her own." JT's eyes just about popped out of his head.

"What! Are you serious we have only been dating like a month!" JT said all in one breath. Vincent just burst out laughing.

"Whoa, man. Breath, I'm just messing with you."

"Vincent, that is not funny. Are you trying to give me a heart attack? My God." Vincent went back to signing the papers as JT had his hand to his heart trying to catch his breath. It was just too funny to pass up.

"Alright man. Come on, time to go." JT got up, gave Vincent a dirty look and walked out of the door.

"Oh, come on JT! It was a joke! JT!" Vincent yelled after JT, but he just kept walking down the street. He finally stopped at the corner. Drama Queen.

~:~

Later on Vincent was getting everything ready for his proposal. He had spent all day making Catherine's favorite dinner, and was now on his way to pick up the flowers. He had everything all planned out, and there was no way anything could go wrong. His plan was to find the perfect spot in central park and make a walkway with the flowers. At the end of the walkway, he would be waiting. Just as he arrived at the flower shop, his phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Vincent? It's Tess." Vincent's heart immediately dropped into his stomach. Something was wrong.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm so sorry." Vincent started breathing heavy.

"Just tell me what is going on."

"It's Catherine. She didn't show up for work today. We just got a ransom note for her to be let go, but it's not good."Vincent was starting to freak out, but he could hear Tess' voice breaking, so he tried to contain himself.

"Tess, just tell me what is going on. I can handle it."

"As far as we know she was taken by this drug cartel that wanted revenge on Joe. Catherine was part of the team that took them down. We believe it is why they took her."

"Ok, makes sense. You said it is not looking good. Why did you say it like that?"

"They sent a video. Looks like they…beat her up pretty good. Vincent, we have to get to her fast but I don't know how. These people…they are not the kind of people who will just let her go." Vincent had about a hundred thoughts running through his head. He wasn't just going to let her die.

"Tess, I'm going after her."

"Vincent, if Joe sees you…."

"I don't care if he sees me. I'm going to get her back..ok"

"I know you will Vincent. I will do whatever I can to keep Joe away, but we don't have that many leads."

"It's ok Tess. I will find her. I promise." Vincent then hung up the phone and looked in the store window that was across the street. His eyes were glowing, and his veins were turning blue.

"I will find you Catherine."

**A/N Don't Hate ME! I wanted to spice up the story a little. I promise it has a happy ending though! Please read and review and tell me what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait. I had some trouble writing this chapter. I hope everyone likes it, and don't forget to leave a review! **

Chapter 8

Two days later, Vincent still had no luck at finding Catherine. He was getting very frustrated. On any other given day he could find Catherine right away, but now it was like there was a block in their connection. This made Vincent feel very anxious. He needed to find Catherine before he was too late. He just had no idea how to do it. He angrily threw his lamp across the room, and continued with his pacing. Downstairs, JT and Tess sat staring at the ceiling.

" Ugh! Doesn't he ever sit down!"

"Tess, give him a break. We all have our own way of coping." Tess looked over at her boyfriend and took a deep breath. She knew JT was right. It was just so hard to sit around and do nothing. She slid down and laid her head on JT's shoulder.

"I'm just scared. What if we don't find her?" JT leaned down and pressed a kiss to Tess' head.

"Hey, don't worry so much. We won't stop until we find her." JT wanted to reassure Tess, but he too was scared that they would not find her in time. He glanced up at the ceiling at the sound of Vincent throwing another object. He hoped for his friend's sake that they found her soon.

~:~

Catherine woke up feeling disoriented, and in a lot of pain. She tried to move her hands and feet, but they were tied to the chair she was sitting in. The memories from the days before started streaming before her eyes. She almost forgot that she was being held against her will. The day before had been pretty bad. They had basically used her as a punching bag. Her face was so swollen that she could barely open her left eye. She also had severe pain in her side and arm. She was guessing she had a few broken ribs, and also a broken arm. All she knew was these people had no intention of letting her go. She tried wiggling her body to get free, but she was in so much pain that it was just no use.

"You are just going to injure yourself more." Catherine's head whipped around when she heard a woman's voice come from her right. This woman looked to be around 23 years old. She had long brown hair, and her face, and arms were covered in scars. This woman had been through a tough time.

"What do you want with me?"

"You are only being used as a bargaining chip. We want your boss to fess up to his actions." Catherine stared at this girl. What had Joe done, and where had she seen this girl before.

"So, you want my boss to confess to something?"

"You really don't remember me, do you? Maybe this will help." Catherine winced, thinking that she might strike her, but instead she pulled back her hair. Catherine then gasped realizing where she knew this girl from.

"You are the daughter of Frankie Sanchez. We took down his Cartel four years ago."

"Wow. You actually remembered. Didn't think you prissy detectives cared about us at all."

"Look, I know what happened to you was traumatic, but we had no choice." The girl jumped up from her seat and slapped Catherine across the face.

"HOW DARE YOU! You had every choice! You could have just arrested him, but instead you killed him!" Catherine thought back to four years ago when the raid happened. She didn't know Joe that well when it occurred.. He was just a new boss that she was supposed to listen to. The head of the Cartel had escaped somehow and held his daughter at gun point. Joe had no choice but to shoot Sanchez in order to save the girl's life. This woman was obviously very confused.

"Joe was trying to save you. If he had done anything else, you would have died."

"If you had been a good detective, my dad never would have been able to get your gun."

"Enough!" Catherine looked behind the girl and saw a man who looked to be in his forties.

"Sara, you were told to make sure she was alive, and now you have revealed everything to her. Leave NOW!" Sara ran out of the room leaving this man and Catherine alone together.

"Well, it looks like you know our plan now. We want revenge on Frankie. Best way to get revenge is to kill the people involved." Catherine felt fear rise up in her stomach. They were going to kill her, and she had no way of getting away.

"You are going to kill me."

"You are one smart detective. As soon as we get your boss to agree on our terms you are dead. Enjoy your last day on this Earth." The man laughed as he left the room. Catherine started to hyperventilate. She needed to get out of here now. This was not the way she was going to die. She took a deep breath to calm herself, and thought back to all of the hard situations she had been in before this. She was a trained detective, and she was going to use every skill she had in her arsenal to get out of this mess. Just as Catherine was getting her confidence back, the man came back in with a syringe.

"Just in case you try to get away." The man inserted the drug into her arm, and the last thing she saw before falling unconscious was the man sneering down at her.

~:~

Vincent had sat in his room for hours trying to come up with a plan. Tess had brought over all the information they had found in Catherine's case. He had looked over the papers about a hundred times, and nothing was bringing him closer to Catherine. It was time he took action, and went to talk to the person the cartel really wanted.

Vincent walked into the precinct and over to Tess' desk. She must have been out looking for Catherine, and unfortunately there was nothing new on her desk. He turned around searching the offices for the right one. At the end of the room, there was the office he was looking for. Lt. Joe Bishop. He walked down to Joe's office and opened the door like he owned the place.

"Where is Catherine Chandler?" Joe jumped when Vincent came into the office. He was not expecting anyone in his office for hours.

"Who are you?"

"You know exactly who I am, and now you are going to answer my question."

"Look, we are doing everything we can to find Catherine."

"Stop with the bullshit. I know that they want you, so you better tell me what is going on. "

"I am trying to protect everyone here. I'm not going to send my people in there just to get killed."

"You are only trying to protect yourself. If you happened to forget Catherine is one of your best people. I will go and find her myself. Then everyone will see that you are nothing but a coward." Joe just stood there staring at Vincent. Vincent gave the man a pathetic look before turning on his heel and leaving. Outside of the office, Tess stood watching.

"Gather all the information you have about the case. We are bringing her home."

"Vincent, what about Joe? Isn't he going to help?"

"No, he isn't. We are on our own." Tess went over to her desk and started gathering all of the new information about where Catherine was being kept. She could not believe Joe was not going to help them out. Tess drove Vincent back to their apartment where JT was waiting.

For the next five hours, the threesome went through every piece of information they had. Around 2 am, JT found something.

"Wait! The last place Catherine's phone was located was near the marina right? Has anyone searched there?"

"Yeah, we had a whole team search the place, but nothing was found." Tess said with a confused look on her face.

"What if the cops went to the marina before Catherine and those goons were there? I mean they ran a drug cartel, they know how cops work."

"JT, you could be right. Maybe I should go down there and look around." Tess and JT looked at each other before nodding.

~:~

Vincent snuck in the back of the building that he thought Catherine was being kept in. He had no idea if Joe was going to do anything, but he wasn't waiting anymore. He crouched down behind a few wood crates. It was then that he smelled it. Blood. There was a lot of blood nearby. Following the scent of blood, he quietly walked a few more feet. It was there was he spotted her.

"Catherine." He whispered quietly. He wanted to make sure there was no one else in the room until he realized the blood scent was coming from Catherine.

"Catherine, can you hear me?" Vincent rushed over to her and checked her pulse. Thankfully, she had a pulse but it wasn't as strong as it should be. He started to untie her arms and legs as she started to mumble.

"Please don't hurt me."

"Shh, Catherine. No one is going to hurt you anymore. It's Vincent." Catherine carefully opened one eye and tried to smile.

"I knew you would come." Vincent then lifted her out of the chair and onto the floor. He was trying to assess all of her injuries, but there were just too many of them. He needed to get her to a hospital fast. He took off his shirt and started ripping it up to create a tourniquet around her arm. It looked like they had stabbed her in the arm very recently. A noise behind him made Vincent jump up.

"Who the hell are you? Get away from her or I will shoot!" Vincent could feel himself changing, and he did nothing to stop it.

"I am your worst nightmare." Vincent said before throwing the man into the wall. He grabbed the gun from the man's hand and shot every person that came after him. Vincent tried to shoot them in the arm, leg, or shoulder. He didn't want to kill anyone, just stun them long enough to get Catherine out. When he was certain there was no one else coming, he picked up Catherine and got out of there. As he ran outside to the car he checked Catherine's vitals again and called 911.

"Vincent?" Vincent grabbed Catherine's hand and put her in the back seat of the car.

"Catherine, you are safe now. Just hold on, we will be at the hospital soon." Vincent only hoped those psychos didn't do too much damage to Catherine. If anything happened to her, they were all going to end up dead.

**A/N I'm not great at writing action scenes, so I hope this isn't too bad. Please leave a review! I promise the next chapter will be much better!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N Hello everyone! Thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter! You guys are awesome! This is the chapter everyone has been waiting for! I hope you all like it! There are probably one or two more chapter left in this story! Don't forget to review!**

Chapter 9

After Vincent got Catherine to the hospital he has refused to leave her side. All the doctors could tell him was that she was in for a rough night. They had taken her into surgery right away to stop the internal bleeding. The doctors kept telling him over, and over that if he had been only a few hours later, she would have been dead. This didn't reassure Vincent very much.

"Hey, have you eaten anything Vincent?" Vincent looked up to see Heather standing over him with a cup of coffee and a muffin. When he got to the hospital, he called JT and Tess. They must have called Heather, Tom, and Brooke because they arrived not long after.

"Thanks Heather, but I really don't have an appetite." Heather sat down next to him and put the food on the table across from them.

"We don't need you passing out on us, so please just eat the muffin." Vincent looked over at Heather and had to laugh. She had the same look that Catherine has when she was trying to make him do something.

"Alright, I will eat it." He picked it up and took a bite off the top to show her. After he finished chewing he finally looked at Heather. She wasn't looking too good.

"Heather, have you eaten?"

"Me? Yeah. My dad made me eat a while ago. I'm just really worried about Cat." Vincent grabbed her right hand and squeezed it.

"The doctors are doing everything they can and she is strong. We just have to believe that she is going to make it." Heather at tears rolling down her face, but she just nodded her head. As Vincent was finishing his muffin, Tom started walking over to them and his heart was racing. Vincent stood up and went to meet Tom half way.

"What is it?" Vincent held his breath because he couldn't quite read Tom's face.

"She's out of surgery. The doctors said it went well. They think she is going to be ok." Vincent almost fell to his knees he was so happy.

"Can we see her?"

"The doctor only wants one at a time, but yes we can go see her." Vincent felt like he was finally able to breathe again since Catherine was kidnapped. The fact that she was going to be okay was the happiest news in the world. Vincent let everyone else go see her first, so he could compose himself a little. When he was finally able to see her, he felt tears in his eyes. She looked so fragile lying in the hospital bed. She had several tubes coming from her body, and she looked so pale. Vincent went over, sat down next to her and carefully grabbed her hand. Her hand was colder than usual which made him worry that the rest of her body was cold. He brought her hand to his lips and laid several kisses onto her knuckles.

"The doctors say you are going to be okay. They did a really good job fixing you up. I will have to thank them personally for saving you." Vincent leaned forward onto Catherine's bed with his eyes closed. He almost jumped when Catherine began to squeeze his hand back.

"My hero." Vincent could feel tears falling down his face, but he didn't care. She was finally awake.

"Oh you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice." Vincent leaned down and kissed her on the forehead a few times. Catherine took the hand he had been holding and caressed his face.

"Thank you for saving me." He turned his head a little to kiss the inside of her palm before responding.

"I'm so sorry it took me so long."

"It was never your fault."

"I know, but doesn't make seeing you hurt any better." Catherine knew he was going to be stubborn, so she just grabbed his hand before shutting her eyes. She may have just woken up, but she was exhausted.

"I think I'm going to rest my eyes a little. Don't go anywhere."

"They would have to drag me out of here. I'd like to see them try." Catherine gave Vincent a small smile before falling asleep. As he watched Catherine sleep, he realized how lucky he was. There were so many things that could have gone wrong. He really could have lost her. Suddenly, Vincent remembered what was in his pocket. Pulling out the ring box, he opened it to show the shining engagement ring. He knew it wasn't his original plan, but he didn't want to wait any longer. He was going to propose to Catherine as soon as possible.

~:~

Once Vincent knew that Catherine was in a deep sleep, he slipped out of the room to talk to JT. JT was sitting in the waiting room with Tess looking extremely bored.

"Hey man." JT immediately perked up at the sight of his friend.

"Hey big guy. How is she?"

"She's sleeping now, but she is awake. I can finally breathe."

"That's great. The doctors are saying they expect a full recovery. I think we can all breathe a little better now."

"Yeah, it's definitely a good thing. I was wondering if you could run an errand for me."

"Yeah, of course. What do you need?"

"Can you run to Alice's Flowers for me? I don't need my whole order, maybe just half of it." JT looked really confused, but Tess was rolling her eyes. She knew what he was talking about.

"I'm going to propose to Catherine when she wakes up, but the entire order would completely fill up the hospital room. Can you just tell her that I will pick them up later?" JT finally realized what he was talking about and began to smile.

"Yeah, of course man. I will be back as soon as possible." After JT left he went back into Catherine's room and thought about what he was going to say. There were so many things that he wanted to tell her, but nothing seemed like it was enough. He looked over at Catherine and pushed a piece of hair from her face. Pushing all of the thoughts from his mind, he just decided he would speak from the heart.

~:~

When Catherine woke up from her nap, she noticed there was something different about her room. Opening her eyes, she had to gasp in awe. Her hospital room was filled with all kinds of flowers. Roses, sunflowers, orchids, they were everywhere. She reached over and pulled a single rose from its vase. She had to smile as she brought it to her nose to smell; this grand gesture had Vincent written all over it.

"I hope it isn't too much." Catherine smiled as she heard Vincent's voice from the other end of the room.

"Well, it's no flash mob, but it will just have to do." Vincent laughed as he made his way to her bed. The ring in his pocket felt like it suddenly weighed a hundred pounds. He went over and sat back in his chair from earlier.

"I wanted to brighten your room up a little. I Thought it should watch your smile." Catherine smiled at him and grabbed his hand.

"Thank you for the flowers. I love them."

"Catherine, you are truly amazing, and I cannot imagine what my life would be like without you in it. Sitting in this hospital, not know if you were going to be okay has made me realize how much you truly mean to me. You are my entire world, Catherine. Ever since you came into my life, it's been like a light in my dark life. We have been through so much in our lives, but I would go through every hardship again for you to be my side." Vincent stopped for a moment and realized that both he and Catherine had tears in their eyes.

"Catherine, I love you more than life itself. You are my soul mate in every sense of the word. If you are in my life, I don't need anything else. Catherine Chandler, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Vincent quickly got down onto his knee and opened the ring box in Catherine's lap. Catherine gasped and put her hand to her mouth.

"Oh my God. Yes! Yes! Of course I will marry you!" Catherine now had tears rolling down her cheeks, but she was also smiling wider than ever. Vincent got up from his position and slid the ring onto Catherin's finger. He then bent down and gave Catherine the most passionate kiss he could muster. When he pulled away he realized JT, Tess, Heather, Tom, and Catherine's doctor were all standing outside of the door.

"It looks like we have a bit of an audience." Catherine looked up to where Vincent was gesturing and just held up her left hand. Everyone outside the door started cheering including the doctor. Catherine just ignored them all and went back to kissing her fiancé.

"I love you Vincent Keller. You have truly made me the happiest girl in the world."

"I love you too soon to be Mrs. Keller. Just wait until my mom finds out." Catherine smiled and kissed him one last time.

**A/N Thanks for reading! I hope everyone liked it! Don't forget to review! They make me smile! **


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